Toyota Avalon Starting Difficulties

1999 Avalon would not start this morning. Did notice windows were slow the day before. Replaced the battery and still would not start. Husband started looking @ it(was his own VW mechanic) and found if he banged on the starter it would start. Besides having 3 sets of tires this is the first problem. Dealer wants $500+ and independent wants $380. Husband found starter for under $200 and thinks he can do it. Any other starting problems out there? What happens if he replaces that and it still doesn't start?

Comments

Sure sounds like the starter, if the car does not respond to turning the ignition key. If it cranks, even slowly, it is NOT. If you get stuck prior to changing it: 1)The car may respond to a "jump", because their is more current going to the starter and completes the circuit from the motor brush, over a small gap, to the motor pick-up. 2) Also, try repeatedly turning the key to the "start" position. ie) turn against the spring in the ignition...you will notice if the car is cranking...if NOT release and immediately turn again(you should be doing this 2-3 times per second). These repeated "jolts" of current often get the starter "cranking" in the early stages of its decline.

Replacement, in my 96, requires removing the battery, battery tray and cruise control actuator...should be the same, or real similar...nomad

causes it to start, it is a real good bet that replacement of the starter is exactly what is needed. With a starter, definitely use the aftermarket and save a few bucks - starters from Toyota are expensive.

I have a 2000 Aavalon XLS with pretty much all of the upgrades (6-CD changer, leather, homelink...etc.) The car also has a low mileage (18,600 miles so far). We have been very happy with this car.

But, in the past few weeks, in three occasions, we had problem starting the Avalon. When we tried to start, the engine at first did not crank at all, there were some fast clicking sounds, then the audio system made repeated noises as if trying to change the tape and CD, all the meters on the dash board also went up and down once. After few more tries, and about 15 to 25 minutes, the engine finally would crank slowly and finally got started. At that time, everything seem normal again, except that all the settings for the LCD display (time, date, ...etc.) and the audio system all went to the original default and need to be setup again. I did check the battery and found the indicator to be "green" indicating the battery appeared to be normal and charged.

Please let me know what may cause this problem? What do I need to do to fix and prevent this from happening again?

Definitely sounds like the battery. Perhaps it is not being charged properly or perhaps there is a small drain on it. The green indicator light really doesn't tell you what the battery will do "under load", only its static and unstressed condition.

You probably have a bad battery as the car is four years old and the original battery is near the end of a useful life. You probably also have corrosion on the terminals. This will prevent proper charging and discharge of current. Most likely post #355 above from our HOST is right. The green light is no help. Fix it now before you end up with no power on the nearest x-way at 60 mph. Avalons, and most other new cars, do *not* run without a good charged battery and good connections.

I posted the #354 last weekend. I changed the battery on Tuesday. Everything seems to be back to normal since then. I did not know that even with a "green light" the battery still may not have enough power to start the engine. Thanks!

Ended up with an Exide 84 month battery. Went out to get a Sears DH, but the Exide cost was much less at the time. Have also had very good service from Delco batteries in my old 1984 Toyota Van. The battery was under the floor on these and having an add no water battery made sense. Only put in two in 18 years. OE lasted about 5 years. The first Delco lasted about 8. The second Delco was still doing fine when I sold the van at 18.5 years.

BTW, The Exide now in my Avalon has no green eye. Not a clear case either. I have to remove the caps on top to check the water. So far in about two years only two cells have needed water, and then only a tiny amount.

Over 8 years as OE. I replaced it simply because of time, not performance. Amazing endurance IMHO. I'm sure it could have gone on for ???? period of time. Replaced OE battery with a 24F type battery from local Walmart...installed myself with no problems.

my wife has a 98 avalon. she is now having problems starting. manual says step on brake to get car to start. now she must put her full body weight on brake pedal to allow her to start. does anyone know whether this problem can be cleaned up at dealer or elsewhere or is it a part or parts problem? don't want to leave her stranded somewhere. i don't trust dealer to give me honest answer.

My friend borrowed the car and swears that she parked it in the driveway, turned car off, walked to the mailbox with the keys in her hand, and the car started on its own! It took her three tries putting the key back in the ignition to turn it off. Other than a ghost, what could be causing this? Only happened one time as far as I know!

Hoping to draw on the expertise here.Have driven my amazingly trouble free 98 Avy for150K miles. Just recently have been experiencing a difficulty on re-starts. Never have any problem if car has been sitting for an hour or more.Engine will turn over but stutter wanting to die.Sometimes I can catch it before it dies by hitting accelerator. I was thinking fuel filter since it has been awhile since last changed.Any thoughts? Thank you!

I am having issues with the starter on my 98 Avalon as well. Somewhere on the internet, I read that the actually problem may just be the starter connects & there is a Starter Repair Kit in the market that can solve the problem - does anyone have any experience doing this?How hard is it to replace a starter?

"I am having issues with the starter on my 98 Avalon as well. Somewhere on the internet, I read that the actually problem may just be the starter connects & there is a Starter Repair Kit in the market that can solve the problem - does anyone have any experience doing this? How hard is it to replace a starter? "

I replaced the brushes and contacts on a 68 Ford station wagon sevreal times, back in the 70's. It wasn't hard to do and a whole lot cheaper then a rebuilt starter. As for doing it on FWD car with the engine shoe-horned into the compartment I haven't a clue. If you can get to the starter and get it out and back in decently easy then I'd say go-4-it!

Any help with this problem would be greatly appreciated. Last year, my 2000 Avalon had a spell of not wanting to start. I would turn the key (not pressing on the gas pedal), the car would turn over, but would not stay started. I found that if I pressed really good on the gas pedal while turning the key, I could nurse it into staying running. Once on the road, it ran well. We took it to the dealer and had the fuel pump replaced. Problem solved, until this week (a year later).

Three times this week, the car has done the same thing--refusing to stay started, not wanting to stay running at idle unless you give it a lot of gas and nurse it along. We took it to our local Toyota dealer yesterday. Their solution--"cleaned throttle body." Talk about feel insulted when I heard their solution--in other words, they had no idea what the problem was, just wastefully threw some of my money at it. We got it back home today, and guess what? Right off the bat, it would not hold a start. We delivered it back to the local dealer's shop.

Any ideas on what could be causing this problem? The car has 95,000 miles on it, and I have loved this car the past five years. It is my first Toyota (my first non-Detroit auto), and it has been wonderful until this starting thing flared up. Thank y'all for y'all's help!

It is possible that the fuel pump is going out, again. Also it could be the fuel filter. Toyota likes to call it a "lifetime" filter but they don't specify whose lifetime. I change mine at ~100K miles.

The throttle body and MAF sensor do need cleaned about every 60K miles but usually you'll notice a loss of power rather then a hard start.

This happened yesterday. I started it up after stopping to pick up something at a store.. When I started the engine and put it in drive and pulled out into traffic, it stopped running. I coasted out of traffic and tried to start it. It would start but cut off immediately after it started. I restarted it about 5 times. I then raced the engine for a while and it started running fine. It has run fine since. Is it a computer problem or bad gasoline or what? Thanks.

i have a 2000 Avalon with the same problem...i have about 130k miles on it and this is alos the second time this has happened....the first was back when the car only had around 60k miles on it and when i took it to the dealer they replaced the starter solenoid. Now im having the same problem...I'm going to take it back see what they tell me this time

I have a 2000 Avalon.I decided to fix the problem, after not getting much help from my Toyota Dealer.It started out as a slow idle problem. the engine would run very slowly around 400 rpm, but eventually would run fine. After several episodes of the slow idle over a period of 2 years, it began to start and not idle at all, so I removed the battery cables to reset the engine management and that worked for a couple of days.To make a long story short I removed the idle control valve from underneath the throttle body and cleaned the carbon crud off of the shaft inside of it let it rotate freely. I used an old toothbrush and carb cleaner. Problem Solved!!

The IAC or Intake Air Control Valve controls the engine speed at idle. It is controlled by the ECM. Remove the rubber air intake (2) hoses at the throttle body and look inside the body. the tube on the right side has the IAC valve opening for air flow to bypass the throttle blades at idle.

It took me about an hour and half to disconnect and clean the IAC.

I disconnected the negative battery cableremoved the air filterremoved the connectors from the IAC and the throttle position sensorI had to remove some black hoses from underneath the throttle body and on top of the air cleaner box get clearance that I would need later when I unbolted the throttle body from the intake manifold. Remove the (3) bolts (2) on top and (1) on the bottom .Also remove a screw from the firewall side of the throttle body to release it from the engine.

Turn the throttle body to remove the (4) phillips head screws.There is a rubber gasket underneath, Because engine coolant does circulate through the valve, you only loose about a tablespoon of coolant. I did reuse the rubber gasket.After you inspect it remove the electrical connector (2) screws carefully pull it away from the IAC.Look for signs of carbon or scoring on the shaft that rotates also check the operation of the little door openning under the shaft, it opens and closes.Mine didn't rotate freely and was dirty.(NOTE: the shaft only rotates enough to open and close the door beneath it. I used a toothbrush and carb cleaner to free it up , the spray will empty out of the opening on the bottom.

It not difficult but there is never enough room to work under the hood.Before you remove stuff , you have to check if there is a wire attached to it.If you have a problem with your idle you might try spraying some carb cleaner through the opening in the throttle down to the IAC.

Many Thanks to this idle/starting solution. My wife's 00 Avalon with 108K miles has had this intermittent problem for years. Had taken it to the dealer and because they couldn't replicate the problem they could not fix it even though they were given a detailed description of the issues.

Took me about two hours with a manual(I am slow and thorough). Found the Idle control valve was sticking with carbon build up.

I have a 1996 Avalon XLS with 112,000K miles on it and have had it one year. No problems as of yet, but now my car won't start. My boyfriend replaced the old battery with a new one and he tried jumping it and it still won't start. He said there is a lot of corrosion on the terminal, but upon brushing it off and cleaning it with baking soda, I still can't get it to start....any ideas?